Culture and Privilege in Capitalist Asia - Jurusan Antropologi ...

A JAPANESE FIRM IN MALAYSIA 113
Malaysia, the way in which people construct their individual identities varies
depending on their social class. For instance, working-class Malaysians emphasise
their ethnic identity over class solidarity, because there is more to be gained as
individuals in activating the networks of patronage based on vertical ties between
members of the same ethnic group (Smith 1994a:179). On the other hand, the
middle class and the really wealthy of all ethnic groups come together in residential
areas, hotels, clubs and resorts. Their lifestyles demonstrate a preference for class
over ethnic values. 3 The weakening of ethnicity as the dominant factor in the selfidentity
of middle-class individuals is exemplified by the fact that it became a
fashion in the 1980s for urban new-rich Malay families to decorate their homes
with Chinese rosewood/pearl-inlay furniture and wall panels. In other contexts
there may be a degree of antipathy between the Malays and the Chinese, but here
the furniture is installed because it looks ‘expensive’ and this is more important
than the fact that it looks ‘Chinese’.
Spending power clearly differentiates the middle class from the proletariat, and
this is reflected in the fact that the former usually purchase new cars while the
latter, at best, can afford only old reconditioned cars, shipped from Japan. 4
Housing size and quality are other key areas of difference. 5 However, because of
their urban lifestyles and ability to purchase consumer goods, the proletariat may
also be classified as ‘new rich’ vis-à-vis unwaged villagers. Villagers who are
without regular cash incomes rely on remittances from relatives who are factory
workers to buy consumer items. Conversely, factory workers rely on these
villagers for childcare and the organisation of weddings and funerals ‘at home’ in
the village (kampung), outside a commercial context.
The major argument underlining the analysis of this chapter is that the cultural
constructions of a large proportion of Malaysia’s new middle class and proletariat
must be understood not only at the macro level, by focusing on historical relations
between state and capital, and the politics of ethnicity, but also on the micro level
of management systems and work relationships in modern organisations such as
large foreign firms. It is this environment which structures the careers, income
levels and hence consumption patterns of the new middle class and those below
who aspire to their standards of living.
The company chosen for the analytical purpose of this chapter is a Japanese
joint venture in the food manufacturing industry, established in Kuala Lumpur in
the early 1960s. It is called Iroha (M). 6 I conducted a longitudinal study of this
company using the firm’s records from 1964 until 1997, as well as data gathered by
the anthropological method of participant observation (1976—97). Being a
longitudinal study, it encompasses the NEP era and, more significantly, the LEP
era, during which the government used Japanese work ethics and management
styles as the primary model for Malaysian industrial development. Because these
have been used as key elements of a state philosophy in the second half of the
NEP era, Japanese investment in Malaysia takes place in a highly politicised
context.